Story By: JEFFREY AHLUM / GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY – BECHTELSVILLE, PA – Doug Manmiller of Shoemakersville, Pa. took the lead from Bobby Trapper Jr. of Scranton, Pa. with just six laps remaining, then held off a late race effort from Jeff Strunk of Boyertown, Pa. to win the 30-lap T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modified feature Saturday night at Grandview Speedway.
Dylan Swinehart of Fleetwood, Pa. was victorious for the second time this season after a fantastic two car pass for the lead on lap eighteen to secure the lead, then motored home for the win in the 25-lap T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman feature race.
The Pro4 Racing Series Four Cylinder stock cars made their debut on the one-third-of-a-mile high banked speedway on Saturday night, with Dan Stein Jr. of East Norriton, Pa. scoring the victory in the division’s 25-lap main event after holding off a late race rally from Matt Worley of Rising Sun, Md. for the win.
The T.P. Trailer Modified win capped an outstanding effort for Manmiller, who started thirteenth on the grid, worked his way forward to the second position by lap twelve, then tracked down Trapper Jr. in lapped traffic before making his move to take the lead with a low groove pass entering turn three.
Strunk arrived in second on lap 25 and moved in to challenge for the win, with Manmiller winning by about a car length at the finish for his first win of the season and 33rd career Saturday night NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series victory. (Manmiller also has a win this season in a Thunder on the Hill Series event).
The winners received bonus money (Modified $300, Sportsman $200) from T.P. Trailers and Truck Equipment of Limerick, Pa., sponsors of the two divisions at Grandview Speedway, in a race program run under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series banner. Doug Manmiller also received a $200 winner’s bonus from Sitko Construction Company.
The T.P. Trailer 30-lap Modified feature saw Chris Esposito of Telford, Pa. take the lead at the drop of Starter Ray Kemp’s green flag, but the first of only two caution flags reset the field on lap three, putting Trapper Jr. alongside for the restart.
Esposito and Trapper Jr. locked into a battle for the lead following the restart, with Eric Kormann of Carneys Point, N.J. and a quickly advancing Manmiller hooking up in a battle for third spot.
The race’s final caution flew on lap ten, and on this restart, Trapper Jr. really turned up the pressure on Esposito, grabbing the lead with an outside groove pass to score lap eleven, with Manmiller following into second one lap later.
By the halfway mark of the main event, Trapper Jr. started to build up an advantage out front, while Manmiller ran in second and sixteenth starting Strunk was on the move, advancing into a battle with Esposito for third, followed by another great battle between Ron Haring Jr. of Alburtis, Pa., Jared Umbenhauer of Richland, Pa. up from fifteenth spot, Kormann, and 21st starting Louden Reimert of Oley, Pa.
By lap twenty, Manmiller had closed the gap on leader Trapper Jr. and was hoping for lapped traffic to make his move for the lead.
The opportunity happened, as Manmiller made a low groove power pass entering turn three coming around to score lap 24, and took over the top spot, with Strunk moving past Trapper Jr. one lap later to secure second spot.
By lap 26 lapped traffic was really heavy for the leaders, with Manmiller having to fight his way through to maintain the lead and Strunk right behind waiting for his chance to make his move.
Meanwhile Umbenhauer powered his way to third and quickly closed on the top two for the final three exciting laps.
Manmiller made all the right moves to work through lapped traffic, which a couple times was two wide ahead of him, to hold off all challenges and race home with the hard fought victory with Strunk on his bumper and Umbenhauer not far behind.
At the checkered flag it was Manmiller, Strunk, Umbenhauer, Trapper Jr. a late race charging Craig Von Dohren of Oley, Pa. who started last and made the top five, Reimert, Esposito, Haring Jr., Tim Buckwalter of Douglasville, Pa., and Frank Yankowski of Throop, Pa.
Qualifying heats for the 39 cars on hand were won by Esposito, Ray Swinehart of Gilbertsville, Pa., Umbenhauer and Strunk with Reimert and Duane Howard of Oley, Pa. winning the consolations.
Brayden Shelton of Hatfield, Pa. took the lead at the start of the 25-lap T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman feature, with Stephen Smith III of Whitehall, Pa., Steve Young of Collegeville, Pa., Kyle Hartzell of Allentown, Pa., and Nate Horn of Slatedale, Pa., all fighting for second position.
The action up front was fast and furious and was also very intense deeper in the pack as drivers were battling for position.
Just two quick cautions reset the field on laps ten and thirteen, with Young able to power past Shelton and into the lead following the lap thirteen restart with an outside groove move in turn one.
While all this action was happening, Swinehart was moving forward from his fifteenth starting spot, reaching tenth by lap ten, eight on lap eleven, sixth on lap thirteen, and advanced to third following the lap thirteen restart.
This quickly set up a tremendous three car battle for the lead, as Young set the pace, with Hartzell challenging down low, and Swinehart right behind.
At one point they went three wide for the lead, before Swinehart made a daring outside groove pass off of turn four down the front straightaway, sweeping around both Hartzell and Young to secure the lead on tap eighteen.
While this action was happening, a great multi-car battle was going on right behind them between Horn, Shelton, Parker Guldin of Temple, Pa., Mike Schneck Jr. of Lebanon, Pa. up from 14th spot, TJ Mayberry of Sellersville, Pa., Jesse Hirthler of Boyertown, Pa. who started 27th, and Logan Watt of Boyertown, Pa. up from 23rd starting spot, all battling practically under a blanket for position.
Swinehart ran the remaining laps unchallenged to score his second victory of the season and eighth career Grandview Speedway win.
At the checkered it was Swinehart, Young, Hartzell, Schneck Jr., Watt, Horn, Hirthler, Guldin, Mayberry, and Logan Bauman of Bechtelsville, Pa.
Qualifying heats for the 41 cars on hand were won by Hartzell, Alex Bartorillo of Limerick, Pa., Young and Shelton with Ryan Graver of Lehighton, Pa. and Brett Grim of Coplay, Pa. scoring the consolation wins.
The Pro4 Racing Series sponsored by Hauser’s Truck Service, Rowan Enterprises, Frederick Chevrolet, Be Smart Home Inspections, Quality Machine, and RWR Racing made its debut at Grandview Speedway a successful one, with 26 cars arriving for their portion of the race program, with Dan Stein Jr. grabbing the 25-lap feature victory.
The feature race was an exciting and competitive event from start to finish, with Stein Jr. taking the early lead, followed closely by Chris Yob of Bethlehem, Pa., Joe Garey Sr. of Trenton, N.J. and Lee Allen of Helmetta, N.J.
Yob would take over the lead on lap nine, only to see Stein Jr. retake the lead following a restart on lap thirteen.
Matt Worley would start the feature in position 23, and steadily work his way forward, reaching tenth by lap nine, sixth by lap eleven, and third by a lap 18 caution. Not far behind was Tyler Denike of New Oxford, Pa., who started 24th and was moving through the field as well, reaching the top five by lap nineteen.
The closing laps saw Stein Jr. leading with Worley pulling out all the stops, coming up a car length short at the finish in a thriller, with Yob and Denike fighting for third spot to the finish.
At the line Stein Jr. was the winner over Worley, Yob, Denike, Matt Smith of Pennsburg, Pa., Justin Oberlin of Hanover, Pa., Garey Sr., Gary Grim of Fleetwood, Pa., Adam Kratzer of New Tripoli, Pa., and Joe Garey Jr. of Trenton, N.J.
Grandview Speedway will be presenting another NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series program next week featuring the T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman.
The show on Saturday, August 31 will include qualifying events for both classes leading into a 30-lap T.P. Trailer Modified feature and a 25-lap feature for the T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman.
Saturday’s program will also include something extra for the younger fans, as there will be a kid’s money scramble at intermission. The kids will be divided into four age groups and sent scrambling to pick up as many scattered coins as they can in a certain amount of time! It was amazing last year how quick the kids were, and how much fun they had scooping the coins up off the race track like little vacuum cleaners!
Pit gates will open at 4 pm, with grandstand gates opening at 5:30 pm, warm-ups starting at 6:15 pm, and the first race of the evening getting the green flag at 7:30 pm.
Adult grandstand admission is $20, students 10-15 with ID are $10, while children ages 9 and under are admitted free of charge. Pit admission is $35 for NASCAR members and $45 for non-members.
The weekend action actually begins on Friday, August 30, as another Outlaw Racing Series Enduro/Vintage double program will be presented along with the addition of the Slingshots.
On Friday, grandstand admission for adults is $10, children ages 12 and under are free, while pit admission is $30. Pit gates open at 2 pm, while grandstand gates open at 5 pm, and racing starts at 7 pm.
T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): DOUG MANMILLER, Jeff Strunk, Jared Umbenhauer, Bobby Trapper Jr., Craig Von Dohren, Louden Reimert, Chris Esposito, Ron Haring Jr., Tim Buckwalter, Frank Yankowski, Mike Gular, Jon Kellner, Eddie Strada, Eric Kormann, Joe Funk, Eric Biehn, Carroll Hine III, Ryan Beltz, Cody Manmiller, Kyle Smith, Duane Howard, John Willman, Glenn Owens, Ray Swinehart, Justin Grim, Brett Kressley, Ryan Watt, Jimmy Leiby, DNS – Ryan Grim
DID NOT QUALIFY: Kevin Hirthler, Lex Shive, Brian Hirthler, Mike Laise, Chris Gambler, Bryan Rhoads, Darrin Schuler, Mike LIsowski, Sean Weiss, Kevin Graver Jr.
T.P. TRAILERS WINNER’S BONUS ($300): Doug Manmiller
SITKO CONSTRUCTION WINNERS BONUS ($200): Doug Manmiller
VP RACING FUELS HARD CHARGER: Craig Von Dohren +19
PENSKE RACING SHOCKS CERTIFICATES: Doug Manmiller ($75), Jeff Strunk ($50), Jared Umbenhauer ($25)
DAN’S DELI HALFWAY LEADER GIFT CERTIFICATE: Bobby Trapper Jr.
T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps): DYLAN SWINEHART, Steve Young, Kyle Hartzell, Mike Schneck Jr., Logan Watt, Nate Horn, Jesse Hirthler, Parker Guldin, TJ Mayberry, Logan Bauman, Ryan Graver, Jared LaBagh, Brayden Shelton, Brett Gilmore, Ryan Higgs, Adrianna Delliponti, Addison Meitzler, Gavyn Krupp, Stephen Smith III, Dakota Kohler, Teague Miller, Alex Bartorillo, Colton Perry, Brett Grim, Zach Steffey, Tyler James, Jesse Landis
DID NOT QUALIFY: Kenny Bock, Jesse Leiby, Tom Miller Jr., Joey Vaccaro, Kaitlyn Bailey, Stephen Laubach, Mark Gaugler, Shannon Slaughter, Colin Cox, Mark Mohr, Chase Gular, Nathan Mohr, Jay Garris, Dennis Graber
T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT WINNER’S BONUS ($200): Dylan Swinehart
GRANDVIEW $100 HARD CHARGER: Jesse Hirthler +20
PENSKE RACING SHOCKS CERTIFICATES: Dylan Swinehart ($75), Steve Young ($50), Kyle Hartzell ($25)
DAN’S DELI HALFWAY LEADER GIFT CERTIFICATE: Brayden Shelton
PRO4 RACING SERIES (HAUSER’S TRUCK SERVICE/ROWAN ENTERPRISES/FREDERICK CHEVROLET/ BE SMART HOME INSPECTIONS/QUALITY MACHINE) FOUR CYLINDER FEATURE FINISH (25 laps): DAN STEIN JR., Matt Worley, Chris Yob, Tyler Denike, Matt Smith, Justin Oberlin, Joe Garey Sr., Gary Grim, Adam Kratzer, Joe Garey Jr., Norm Kidd, Roger Kummerer, Joe Luckenbaugh, Rob Weil, Kelly Frantz, Julian Storms, Lee Allen, Jeff Foster, Brian Moyer, Colin Gale, Eric Degler, Jay Lowman, Andrew Keefer, Vinny Wollyung, DNS – Josh Bittner, Eric Spengler
RWK RACING HARD CHARGER: Matt Worley +21